Amir metaphorically compares Rizwan to a 'rickshaw' and Babar to a 'Ferrari' as he criticizes under-fire PAK captain after Champions Trophy exit

The highly anticipated 2025 Champions Trophy was supposed to be Pakistan's chance to shine and redeem themselves after a string of disappointing performances in ICC global events. Fans had high hopes for Mohammad Rizwan and his team as hosts and defending champions, but fast forward to March 2nd, and Pakistan has been eliminated from the competition. Their journey started with a crushing defeat to New Zealand in Group A, and things only went downhill from there when they faced off against their arch-rivals India in Dubai. The match was marred by controversy as India refused to travel to Pakistan due to ongoing geo-political tensions between the two countries. Instead, ICC made the decision to allow India to play in a neutral venue and chose Dubai, a decision that has drawn criticism from other teams who feel that India now has an unfair advantage by playing all their matches in the same venue.

The India vs Pakistan turned out to be one-sided as the visitors cruised to an easy victory, courtesy of Virat Kohli. The former skipper hit the match-winning four to also get to his 51st ODI hundred, and remained unbeaten. The result was a virtual knockout blow to Pakistan, with Rizwan needing other results to go in his favour, and then soon their elimination was confirmed, a true shocker for the home side’s fans.

Also Read: Rizwan 'looked lost' against India, wasn't 'blabbering at all': Pakistan captain's odd behavior shift irks legendPAK legend destroys Mohammad Rizwan

Speaking to Sports Tak, former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir, who was part of the 2017 title-winning Champions Trophy squad and defeated India in the final, brutally destroyed Rizwan’s captaincy in his own special straightforward manner. Known for his outspoken personality, Amir didn’t hold back when he was asked to compare Rizwan’s captaincy to Babar Azam and he was straightaway left in splits.

“Rizwan (laughs)... You have come from a Ferrari to a rickshaw now (laughs again). At some point, I liked him because he has captained in domestic cricket and also in PSL, he was successful there and his team would play in the final. But then suddenly if you see after 2-4 months, his decisions began to change suddenly. I don’t know why or what happened as I haven’t shared the dressing room with him for 2-4 months. Why is he behaving this way, his decisions are coming across as strange,” he said.

“He was a daring captain at the start. It looked like he would change some things. But then suddenly in 2-4 months, you feel that he is very distant from cricketing knowledge. Everyone thinks that Ahmed (Shehzad) made videos, I gave interviews to the media, even Wasim (Akram) bhai, you name it. Everyone said that this squad is not fine, there are no genuine openers, you should add spinners. If the captain says he didn’t have any power, that is a lie, he does have power. The way Rizwan was appointed as skipper, he could have made these decisions but he didn’t do it, I don’t know why,” he added.

Amir also went on to criticise Pakistan’s decision to call Imam-ul-Haq after Fakhar Zaman got injured and was ruled out for the entire tournament. “They got a small opportunity when Fakhar Zaman got injured, they could have added an extra spinner. That is what I am saying, when you owe people favours and put the team behind, then problems arise. They had the chance and they had an opened in Usman and they didn’t need Imam-ul-Haq. They could have got an extra spinner, but they didn’t. They should be daring and take responsibility for such decisions,” he said.

Amir also had a cautionary warning for the Pakistan Cricket Board, and their management style in recent times. “If the right decisions aren’t made, Pakistan cricket could go 20 years behind,” he exclaimed.

Pakistan has been receiving criticism from all sides after their elimination, with fans left bitter and angry. Many fans have gone on-air to destroy the likes of Babar and Rizwan to shreds. In fact, there were many interviews before the India vs Pakistan match, where PAK fans predicted that India would easily win.

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